Corn picker snapping roll



C. MARXMAN i CORN PICKER SNAPPING ROLL Filed Jan. 18, 1955 Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STAT-ES :PATENT Aorner.:

This invention relates to snapping rolls for corn pickers.

Farmers have experienced `ccmsiderable difficulty with corn pickers in the matter of the stalks clogging the snapping rolls. This clogging, which is experienced even with new rolls, but especially with rolls that are slightly worn, occurs at the upper ends of the rolls, which shows that the ribs running the full length of the rolls spirally do not have enough traction or purchase on the stalks entered therebetween to pull the stalks through between therolls in the operation of stripping or snapping olf the ears. Considerable thought has Vbeen given this matter and various expedients have been proposed to remedy the difficulty, but, solfar as I am aware, nothing really practical and serviceable yhas been produced. The rolls operate fairly well only when new, but as soon as the sharp corners of their stalk grabbing nubs are worn round, which does not take long, the rolls have to be replaced, at more expense than most farmers can alford. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide snapping rolls having traction beads on the leading `edges of the nubs' tol increase their gripping ability, and thereby avoid the clogging referred to and at the same time make for smoother and easier operation of the machine, `by reason of the uniform distribution of the working load from end to end of the rolls. These beads, it Vshould be understood, are not something to merely replace worn off metal at the corners or `edges of worn nubs, but serve to `provide projecting tooth or claw portions not otherwise found on the nubs of new rolls, and are primarily for goodtraction; for that reason they `have been applied to advantage on new rolls where they not only give increased traction but greatly prolong the life of the rolls. The location of these beads at the leading edges of the nubs and so that they do not project beyond the periphery of the nubs is highly `important too, because `they then afford just the degree of tractiondesired and no more.

Another object consists 'in welding these beads on the nubs so as to havethe beads of hard steel as contrasted with the relatively soft cast iron of the nubs and thus greatly increase the durability thereof; also to permit application of the invention `to existing machines so as to avoid neces sity for replacement of the rolls, or to newly cast rolls.

l The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- `Figure 1 is a face view of a pair of rolls showing the traction orgripping beads provided in accordance with my invention; v

Fig. 2 is a developed View of a portion of the surface of `one roll to better illustrate the form of the beads, and their relation to the nubs; 5

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig.4 is a section in a plane at right angles to Fig. 3.

The same reference numerals are applied to 1,0:

corresponding parts throughout the views.

The snapping rolls, one of which is designated by the numeral 6, turn in the directions indicated by the arrows by reason of the intermeshing of the drive gears thereof. In operation, high portions or nubs Il on the spiral ribs 9 provided on the rolls are arranged to work thestalks through between the rolls, the clearance therebetween Ybeing suflcient for that purpose but not enough to allow the ears to pass through with the stalks, thus causing the ears to be snapped off. The rolls, even when new, when they have sharply dened square corners or edges on the front faces to supposedly fbite into the stalks, do not work them through between the rolls without clogging. A conservative estimate is that new rolls will clog about onefourth as much, or one-fourth as dften, as rolls that have been used, say two years., and have the corners or edges rounded. It is dueto the fact that the rolls have to be cast of gray iron so as not to be too hard and brittle and be apt to break `under strain, that the nubs do nothave enough wear resisting qualities to stand up under the continuous abrading action that goes with the working through of the stalks between the rolls; the square corners originally provided on the nubs are gone soon after the rolls are put into service and before long the whole front face is worn round to such an extent that it is really diiiicult to conceive of for those unfamiliar with this work and who have not witnessed the eiects. Naturally, the efficiency of the nubs, which, as I have pointed out, is not so high evenwhen the `rolls are new, is greatly diminished as soon `as the square corners are worn round, and the nubs fail completely in their function when the whole face has become worn round and smooth. When the nubs fail, the rolls get clogged with stalksat the upper ends next to the drive gears and the ma.- chine jams. The load this imposes on the tractor can be easily imagined not to mention the vstrain imposed upon the picker. There have furthermore been many injuries as a result of attempts to force the clogged mass through by hand be- 55 'l provided on the upper ends 15 tween the rolls in the turning thereof. With the ribs improved in accordance with my invention, as hereinafter described, the difficulty referred to is avoided because there is sufficient traction provided on the nubs to take care of the pulling through of the stalks.

In accordance with my invention, a series of U-shaped projecting traction or gripping beads I0 are provided on the ribs 9 at each of the nubs Il, on the front face thereof, or leading edge, as best shown in Fig. 4, and so as to project from the front face but not beyond the periphery of the nubs, in order that the clearance between the rolls need not be changed and so as not to give more traction than desired. "In other words, the radial distance to the outermostportion of each bead I0 measured from theaxis ofthe rollV is substantially the same as the radial distance to the high point of each nub Il formed in the spiral ribvon the roll. Now, these beads act as calks or grippers to bite into the stalks and force them through between the rolls, and since the Abeads are provided on the nubs the full length of the rolls it follows that the working load A-is uniformly distributed fromy end to end and the machine will accordingly operate more easily and smoothly.l Furthermore, since the work of feeding the stalks through between the rolls is carried on from the moment the stalk enters between the lower ends of the rolls, there will be no danger of clogging at the upper ends. For instance, in one case a new corn picker could be pulled only with the tractor in low gear, whereas, when the rolls on this picker were improved by the addition of the traction beads hereinV disclosed, it was found that there was no difflculty'whatever in pulling the picker with the tractor in second gear. Then, too, it was found that the new rolls clogged repeatedly in the picking of between 200 and 300 acres of corn, whereas after the rolls were provided with the traction beads, no clogging whatever occurred in the picking of 600 acres of corn.' In the past, most at-V tempts at remedying the clogging consisted in making special provisions to insure feeding through only at the upper ends of the rolls, thus imposing an undue strain on the machine at the one point and making the machine work hard. That, objection is entirely avoided by my invention.A

TheV rolls are gray iron castings, and it is not surprising, therefore, that the sharp cornered nubs on the spiral ribs wear down in a short time because of the softness of the metal. The beads l0, in order to stand up under the diflcult service conditions of the snapping rolls, should be of harder metal, and for that reason are preferably applied by electric arc'welding, even in theV case of new rolls being madeat the factory as herein specified. The fact that the beads are so applied obviously makes it feasible to apply the invention'to old rolls on existing machines. -Many rolls which would otherwise have to be replaced because of wear have been put back into service after the application of my'invention thereto, and given better service when so improved than was secured when the rolls were new. The wear resisting characteristics of the hard steel beads are found to add many years of service to rolls to which they have been applied. The rough clumpy form of the Ybeads greatly increases traction, which explains why the rolls give better service than when theyi are new and have the relativelysmooth V tially the full length thereof, said rib having high nub portions coincident with the steps thereof and consequently in angularly spaced relation with respect to the body, the nub portions on said roll being adapted to enter the space between the convolutions of a corresponding rib on acompanion roll and integral traction beads provided on and projecting from said rib on the front of the nub portions and within the radius of the periphery of the latter, said beads projecting from the surface of the nub portions and being of small section relative to the sections of the nubs.V

2. In a snapping roll adapted for coactionrwith a companion roll and comprising a cast iron cylindrical body, and an integral cast iron spiral stepped rib projecting from said body and eX- tending substantially the full length thereof, said rib having high nub portions coincident with the steps thereof and consequently in angularly spaced relation with respect to the body, the nub portions on said roll being adapted to enter the spaces between the convolutions of a corresponding rib on a companion roll, traction beads of harder metal welded on and projecting from said rib on the front of the nub portions and within the radius of the periphery of the latter projecting from the surface of the nub portions and being of small section relative to the sections of the nubs.

3. A snapping roll comprising a substantially cylindrical, elongated body, a spiral rib on said body having stalk grabbing nubs at longitudinally spaced points on the rib, and stalk gripping projections provided on the leading edges of said nubs within the radius of the periphery of the latter, the same projecting from the surface of the nubs and being of small section relative to the sections of the nubs.

4. A snapping roll comprising a cast iron, elongated, Vsubstantially cylindrical body, a spiral rib on said body cast integral therewith having stalk grabbing nubs formed thereon at longitudinally spaced points thereof, and stalk gripping projections welded on the leading edges of said nubs within the radius of the periphery of the latter, the same projecting from the surface of the nubs and being of small section relative to the sections of the nubs.

5. A pair of snapping rolls for a corn picker disposed in parallel closely spaced relation and turning in opposite directions, each roll comprising a substantially cylindrical cast iron body having an integral spiral stepped rib of cast iron projecting therefrom and extending substantially the full length thereof, each rib having high nub portions coincident with the steps thereof, the nubs on one roll entering between the convolutions of the rib on the other roll, the rolls being spaced so that the periphery of the nubs have operating clearance with respect to the periphery of thet'cylindrical bodies, and wear resisting traction beads of harder metal weldedv on and projecting from the front faces of the nubs to serve as stalk grippers, said beads projecting from the surface of the nubs and being of small section relative to the sections of the nubs and reaching substantially to the saine radius as the periphery of said nubs whereby to work within the aforesaid clearance allowance.

6. snapping rolls as set forth in claim 5 wherein the beads are substantially U-shaped with the arms of the U reaching forwardly with relation to the direction of rotation, the U-shaped beads on one roll being in reverse relation to corresponding beads on the other roll.

7. A snapping roll adapted for coaction with a companion roll, comprising a substantially cylindrical body, an integral spiral stepped rib projecting from said body and extending substantially the full length thereof, said rib having high nub portions with marginal edges coincident with the steps thereof and integral traction beads provided on and projecting from said rib on the front of the nub portions and within the radius of the periphery of the latter, said beads projecting from the surface of the rib portions and being of small section relative to the sections of the ribs.

8. In a snapping roll adapted for co-action with a companion roll and comprising a cast iron cylindrical body, and an integral cast iron spiral stepped rib projecting from said body and extending substantially the full length thereof, said rib having high nub portions with marginal edges, traction beads of harder metal welded on and projecting from said rib on the front of the nub portions and within the radius of the periphery of the latter, said beads projecting from the surface -of the rib portions and being of small section relative to the sections of the ribs.

CARL MARXMAN.

CERTIFICATE 0E CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,041,159. May 1e, 193s.

` CARL MARXMAN.

It is hereby certified that error apears in the printed specification oi the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, second Column, line 17, Claim l for the Word "spaCe read spaces; and. line '39, claim 2, after "latter" insert the Comma and Words said beads; and that the said Letters Patent 4 should be read with these Corrections therein that the same may Conform to the record. of the Case in the Patent Office.

Signed and Sealed this 18th day of August, A. D. 1956.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

